Dreaming
of a Green Christmas…
by Sally
Gilhooley
• You
can serve your organic holiday dinner atop designer Ralph
Gorham’s beautiful wood tables created from wood
rescued from demolished Brooklyn buildings for Brooklyn
Farm Table Company. If 10,000 New Yorkers buy a piece of
furniture made from reclaimed Douglas fir instead of virgin
wood, we’ll save enough trees to absorb the CO2 created
by 114 round-trip flights from NY to Brazil! Ole! See more
at: dailytip@idealbite.com.
• Project
Concern International provides health and poverty solutions
worldwide. You can give gifts of health, hope and nutrition
by shopping online then sending eCards to your recipients
letting them know a life-changing gift has been given in
their honor. Learn more at: www.projectconcern.org.
• Green
is the new black for your party clothes and clothing gifts.
Shop eco friendly brands at NIMLI, the natural, organic
and green lifestyle website and at globalghettoorganics.com for
their bamboo bucket hat.
• Beautiful
hemp clothes, accessories, gear, food and body care products
are offered through The Hempest. Since 1995, they have
produced clothing which is ethically and ecologically manufactured
in a wide variety of styles. Visit store.hempest.com.
• Van’s
Gifts, voted #1 by the Wall Street Journal for originality
in the category of gift basket after use, offers 20 “green” gift
baskets for corporate or personal gift giving. Check out
their offerings at: www.vansgifts.com.
• You’ll
find Friends of the Earth ideas at: http://www.foe.co.uk.
Holiday suggestions include: giving antique jewelry or
gifts from antique shops for unique gifts as well as recycling.
Using local foods for seasonal celebrations, recycling
cards and wrappings and checking local sources for the
after-use of your live tree. Some organizations grind them
into wood chips and mulch instead of dumping them into
landfills. Even better – get a live tree and plant
it in the backyard.
• New
paper products made of raffia fibers from the bark of mulberry
trees, colored with sugar cane or banana are beautiful
and no trees are cut down to make them as the fibers keep
growing back. See them at www.naturalcollection.com.
• Keeping
kids and grandkids busy during the long holiday vacation
is easy and educational when you can have them visit ten
fun websites for kids including Meet the Greens about an
environmentally-conscious family, Green Balloon Club which
has songs, videos, print and color activities, WaterBusters!
and Charlie and Lola. See the other six sites at: www.bemoreeco.com.
Have Santa shop for safe toys at PlanetHappyToys.com.
• For
Dad, a solar spark lighter may be just the thing for lighting
holiday fires or for camping trips and emergencies. See
it at www.greatdad.com
